In general, an image forming device using a toner employs an agitator to prevent the toner in a container from becoming cohesively bulky.
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. Sho. 63-8756-A shows an example of the agitator. The agitator includes plural agitating plates (5-5) fixed to a rotation shaft (5-4) to form a constant angle with respect to the rotation shaft, and agitating shafts (5-6, 5-7) extending parallel to the rotation shaft and connecting one ends of the agitating plates. The agitator uses the agitating plates and the agitating shafts in an attempt to uniformly agitate a toner such that the toner collected along the agitating plates is scooped up by the agitating shafts.
However, since the plural agitating plates are tilted by the same angle in the same direction with respect to the rotation shaft, the rotation of the rotation shaft causes the agitating plates to convey the toner to one end of the rotation shaft, and thus the toner is likely to stay at the one end. Further, the agitating shafts can agitate a part of the toner sliding off from the agitating plates and gathering at a bottom of a toner containing chamber along the shapes of the agitating plates when the agitating shaft passes through the part of the toner, but the agitating shafts are difficult to agitate another part of the toner in the vicinity of the bottom to cause the stay of the toner. The stay of the toner is a notable disadvantage particularly when an amount of toner in the toner containing chamber is small.
The stay of the toner causes an image to be unclear, or causes the blur that the toner is loaded to an undesired portion.